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Tuesday, 24 May 2011

WOLVES species

The grey wolves the great predators of the Arctics cold deserts and forests

wolves are from dog family of wild animals called cinadae family.they long time existed in Eurasia,North America,North Africa.

The wolves protects their territorials at a wide range that no animal should come to close to their prey.The wolves live in packs, communicating to one another using their body language,odour and facial expressions especially when the tail is held high, shows how the Wolf is confidence in the family. the wolves have different sounds ,yips,barks, squeaks and communicate to each other through vocals even a young baby wolves can mimic almost all the adults sounds.Howl is a sound from a wolf which can be heard six miles away.The wolf has a unique sense of smell.

GRAY WOLVES The gray wolfs are the largest in size of the dog family mostly found in Asia,Canada,China,USA.Their average life span of a gray wolf is 13yrs.They can run a speed of 64kph so they can easily hunt a prey or run away from predator,The grey wolves have the strongest sense of smell than any other animal The baby gray wolfs are born one by one each yeaThe gray wolf (Canis lupus) also called the timber wolf, is the largest of about 41 wild species within the dog family, Canidae, of the order Carnivora. They range in size from 26" to 38" shoulder height, 39" to 80" in length (tip of nose to end of tail), and vary in weight from 57 to 130 pounds. Their coats may vary in color from grey to brown, from white to jet black.

They usually hunt at night and feed primarily on large hoofed mammals such as deer, caribou, elk, and moose, but sometimes eat berries, birds, beaver, fish, and insects. Animals that they kill are usually young, old, or otherwise weaker members of their populations because they are easiest to capture. Most pursuits of prey range in length from 110 yds. to 3.1 miles. Healthy wolves rarely, if ever, attack humans. Their range once covered most of North America. However, today only a few upper states and Canada have a wolf population large enough to maintain itself.

The gray wolf mates for life and lives in packs which can vary in size from 2 to over 15, but are usually from 4 to 7 wolves. The leader of the pack is normally the strongest male, who often determines when and where the pack will hunt, as well as other activities of the pack. Wolfpacks are formed primarily of family members and relatives. They may travel more often, and greater distances than any other terrestrial animal. Their territories may cover from 100 to 260 sq. mi, depending on the abundance of food and water. Territories may also overlap, although wolfpacks very seldom confront one another. Some wolves leave their packs to become lone wolves. Loners may start their own packs if a mate and a vacant area can be found.

Breeding season can vary from January in low latitudes to April in high latitudes. A wolfpack will alternate between a stationary phase from spring through summer and a nomadic phase in autumn and winter. The stationary phase involves caring for pups at a den or homesite. During summer, most movements are toward or away from the pups, and adults often travel and hunt alone. By autumn, pups are capable of traveling extensively with the adults, so until the next whelping season the pack usually roams as a unit throughout its territory in search of prey. Though often only the highest ranking male and female in a pack will breed, all members of the pack are involved in raising the young. Mortality factors affecting wolves include persecution by humans, killing by other wolves, diseases, parasites, starvation, and injuries by prey. Most wolves probably live less than 10 years in the wild.r

ARABIAN WOLFS Standing approximately 26 inches shoulder height and weighing an average of 40 pounds, the Arabian Wolf is the smallest wolf subspecies, yet, the largest canid in Arabia. They have short greyish-beige hair which becomes much longer and thicker in winter. Their ears are large in comparison to the rest of it's body (similar to the maned wolf). Their eyes are naturally yellow with black pupils. However, many are found with brown eyes, revealing that somewhere down the line their ancestors have interbred with feral dogs.

It is endangered in Arabia, and extinct in the United Arab Emerites. Because of a scarcity of food, they are found in packs only during mating season from October to December, or when food is plentiful. It will kill animals up to the size of a goat, but usually feeds on carrion, small birds, rodents, reptiles and insects. It also eats fruits and plants when meat is scarce. They dig burrows in the sand to protect themselves from the sun, and hunt mainly at night.

The only time that Arabian wolves are known to be territorial is when their pups are born. The litter size can be as large as 12, but is usually only 2 or 3. They are blind at birth and weaned at about eight weeks when the parents start regurgitating food for them.

Wolves BREEDING

Mating season occurs in February and March, and gestation lasts about 60 days. In April or May, an average of 3 to 6 pups are born. They usually remain with pack for 15 to 20 months and reach sexual maturity at about 22 months. Both the mother and father usually mate for life and both participate in rearing their offspring. The direct family is usually what makes up the pack. Their dens are formed around dense vegetation, a river bank, in a hollow tree stump, or an abandonded den of some other creature.

STATUS of Wolves

Between 1900 and 1920, red wolves were annihilated from most of the eastern portion of their range by means of predator control programs using poison, along with heavy hunting and trapping. By 1980, the Canis rufus that used to inhabit almost all of the southeastern United States was declared extinct in the wild.

40 red wolves were captured in the late 1970's and of those, 14 were found to be genetically pure and were used for captive breeding. Since 1987, hundreds of red wolves have been reintroduced to the wild. However, they are still seen as unwanted intruders by some people and are hunted down. In addition, the threat of hybridization with the Coyote still exists.